Return of the Wicked
by freddieismyqueen
Summary: Elphie melted at the hands of Dorothy, a very surprising and unrealistic way for The Wicked Witch of the West to go. As you can imagine, she had a few tricks up her sleeve. Brief Gelphie at Shiz, but that does not recur.
1. Someone Mourns the Wicked pt 1

Elphaba was melting now. It was dreadful, it was pain, and yet...and yet, what bliss! To be broken down into one's primary components. To be disintegrated. As The Wicked Witch of the West came apart, she had the epiphany that brought everything together, that she was sure everyone must have when dying in such a way; this wasn't the end. No. Dying was very much a beginning. To melt, to burn...and much like a pfenix, to be reborn from the ashes. This was the way it would go. Wickedness, much like Goodness, could not be destroyed so easily. Or perhaps, in the case of Elphaba Thropp, it was the other way around. She must have been good all along if it brought her the way it had. Followers of The Unnamed God often suggested that The Unnamed God gave no one more burden than they could handle, and it had to be true. In this moment, Elphaba knew that this was truth. She, The Wicked Witch of the West, the supposed hermaphrodite, the demon child born with razor sharp fangs, she, she, SHE knew that this was a test. This Unnamed God whom she could not believe in may not have given this test to her but fate, somehow, had brought her this great misfortune; she was going to deal with it as best she could.

"I'm melting, I'm melting, Oh, what a world!" Shrieked Elphaba in what must have sounded like agony. She muttered something that must have sounded like incoherent insanity spewed as she died something that must have seemed like death. It was, though, a spell to change from woman to pfenix.

_Pathos m'geren sumtin m'lai_

_Pathos m'geren sum'tai_

_Path'ai m'tin geren sumtim m'lai_

_Path'ai m'geren tai laos._

The body of Elphaba Thropp now lay in ashes on the floor, as surely as if she had been cremated. And yet, the spirit of Elphaba had yet to leave, was waiting above, invisible to those in the room, flying about in high spirits at having passed the test fate had brought to her.

_They need to leave,_ Elphaba thought to herself. _I have fifteen minutes at best before I have to be in this body and if they get in my way...by God, I will take them down._

Slowly, all of the spectators and that mindless twat of a farm girl walked from the room, shaken up but triumphant. Only Glinda stayed behind---dear Glinda. Elphaba had never had a friend before Glinda, would never have a true friend after. Fiyero...he had loved her, true, but it had not been the same. She had been forbidden to him, as had he to her. They had loved the excitement, that was all. Elphaba was sure that he knew they could never have been friends. Not because of what happened...just because.


	2. Someone Mourns the Wicked pt 2

Elphaba frowned as her friend, her beautiful friend...her only friend...tried not to weep over the pile that once was---and unbeknownst to her, would soon again be---The Wicked Witch of the West. Elphaba...or, Elphie, as Glinda had called her, frowned, high spirits lost at Glinda's uncharacteristic holding back of emotion. Glinda had been known to weep over the most trivial of things, a flaw that Elphaba had sadistically exploited in recent years. These tears, though, the ones that wouldn't fall...these were real tears. That was what hurt the most.

Glinda crouched down and lovingly ran her hand over Elphaba's abandoned cape. She lifted it for a moment and held it to her face, breathing in the scent of her deceased friend. It was then that the tears came.

"Elphie," choked out the blonde tearily, "Wherever you are...I hope you're happy."

_Oh, God, _Elphaba realized with horror, _She's giving me something like a eulogy. I don't think I can bear it._

But bear it, she did. Tied to her ashes, unable to leave the room as a result of her spell, Elphaba bore the burden of every word uttered. Glinda's brief but poignant speech on Elphie's behalf made her feel, if possible, worse. She was none of those things Glinda said she was. Brave, intelligent, a friend. Had she been any of these things, Glinda would not have been weeping on the floor of Kiamo Ko at that moment, spilling her heart out to someone who should have been there.

Elphaba ached to reach out to Glinda, ached to tell her that she had betrayed her, ached to do just something, anything. Even if it made Glinda hate her, it would be better than the guilt she now felt. Elphaba didn't feel much these days, but somehow, Glinda could get to her like no one else could. It was for this reason she knew that Glinda was, in fact, her one, her only friend. The only one who chose to mourn the wicked. For this, she was both grateful and resentful. As Glinda composed herself and left the room feigning dignity and detachment that the outside would would expect her to display, Elphaba, for the first time wept real tears. No one was there to wipe them away.


	3. Someone Mourns the Wicked pt 3

A.N. - Thanks for the reviews! I will keep putting more up regularly. This isn't exactly musical or book version: it's a combination of both, really, leaning more towards musical. There were things in the book, though, that I thought should have been included in the musical, so I included this thing in this version of Oz. Enjoy!

A sudden warmth ran through Elphaba, causing her crying to cease immediately. She was sure to compose herself in order to make sure everything went as planned. The warmth became a burning heat, and she thought how this was pain, this was torture, but this was a new beginning. The pain intensified, and she thought for a wild moment she might die anyway. The heat then ebbed to a tingly warmth and then to cold.

Elphaba tried to blink her eyes and realized she could not. Instead, a think membrane passed over each eye; she was a pfenix.

"Yessss..." she whispered, then paused. Why, she wasn't a pfenix at all! She was a Pfenix, an Animal! One of the very kind she had tried to save. She flapped her wings experimentally, knowing she could change back to woman if she wished, but realizing this was far too risky. After several tries, she had succeeded in flying from her place on the floor to the top of the wardrobe and back. She fluttered over to a mirror and took a long look at herself, scarcely believing what she saw.

She was a Pfenix: there was no doubt of this. Her feathers were a deep crimson shade all except...several places on her chest and wings had teardrop shaped markings of green. _Green?_ she wondered to herself, and then...

"Glinda!", exclaimed the Pfenix, the green girl, The Wicked Witch of the West, "She must have cried over my ashes and when I reassembled..." she shook her Pfenix head, unbelievingly. Elphaba stopped a moment, considering taking her cloak, and fought the urge as she heard a commotion from a large group coming up the stairs. Without so much as a backward glance, she fled from Kiamo Ko, straight to the Emerald City where she would watch things unfold as they would.

After what seemed like ages, Elphaba was safely atop a housetop, overlooking the palace of the wizard. Realizing the rooftop of the palace itself would be much better a spot to watch the goings-on, she started to fly but froze when she saw a group of people she truly loathed making their way up the yellow brick road.

That wimpy lion, the heartless bastard who was now the tin man, the only man who had ever loved her, yet had not even shed a tear over her passing, and the little bitch from Kansas. Yes, they were all jolly and skipping up the road with that yippy little dog nipping affectionately at their heels. It was enough to make Elphaba sick.

From her perch on the house, she watched them pass by, catching a few words of their conversation.

"Now that she's dead, I'm going back to Kansas. Killing witches takes a lot out of you. I'm pooped."

"...Now if I only had some courage, I would have done it. Look at what she did to me! You can't fight everyone's battles for them."

"...I thought she loved me and she turned me into...this. Just look at me! She would probably say, 'Fiyero, you're lucky to be alive', but I'm not. I'm NOT! She's just selfish, that's all. If she weren't...she would have let me die."

"...Her sister honestly thought I loved her. As if I could ever love some...some..._cripple._ That is beneath me. Now that I'm a big hero, Glinda will love me."

How they sickened her. Their uneducated, untrue comments were despicable but cut Elphie deep. It wasn't like she was trying to be selfish, after all. But yes, sure, she wanted Fiyero to live. She had thought what she felt for him was love when what it all translated into was a naive sort of need, of want. He was the only one who had ever loved her, who would ever love her...

No. That wasn't true. Someone else had, but that was so long ago, so painful to remember...and Elphaba had broken that person's heart. Hell, perhaps she was selfish, but at least she didn't follow the wizard's mindless plans like these...dare she say, 'conformists'. But maybe conformity wasn't such a bad thing. At least they would experience something that could be considered true love. At least they weren't completely empty, devoid of emotion.

True, Elphie wasn't either, but she had the tendency to push people away.

She left her perch, disgusted with herself while somewhere far below, people were getting their heart's desires. She flew back to Kiamo Ko blindly, her mind elsewhere. She was thinking back to her days at Shiz, the days when someone had loved her. Had she loved them, too? She couldn't remember at first. As she thought back, though, everything became clear.


	4. Dear Old Shiz pt 1

Elphie wandered around her new room in a nervous state. She had been told that she would, in fact, be sure to meet the wizard. She had been assured of her talent, talent she did not know she possessed, and her untapped potential. She had managed to make a scene on her first day, and felt like as much of an outcast as usual. She had also seemed, on top of that, to already to piss off her presumably popular roommate whom she referred to privately as 'The Princess'. This was going to be a long, long semester.

The Princess herself strode in and plopped down on her frilly pink comforter, ignoring Elphaba completely as she took out paper and a fuzzy pink pen to write a letter. Elphaba was unsure who the letter was to, figured it was probably to a boyfriend or something. Just to have something to do more than anything, Elphaba pulled out a sheet of paper and a pen and began writing a letter to her father. As Galinda, AKA 'The Princess' continued ignoring her, she chose to make her the negative topic of her writing. Unbeknownst to her, Galinda was doing the same on her side of the room. Elphaba finished her letter before Galinda and started to leave.

"Oh, too good to stay in here with me?" Galinda said loudly, freezing her.

"No, too smart." Elphaba retorted and began to open the door.

"Wait one minute!" Squealed Galinda angrily, throwing a text book hard at her roommate. It made it's mark, hitting her between the shoulder blades. Elphaba spun around, face hot with anger and saw Galinda storming across the room towards her. "You are not just going to storm out like that. I will not be disrespected in that way!"

Elphaba rolled her eyes, realizing what this was all about.

"What, so you think that everyone has to cater to your every whim, that it?"

Galinda started to nod, then frowned, not quite sure what Elphaba meant.

"Was that sarcasm?"

Elphaba merely smiled what she thought was an extremely dry smile at 'The Princess' and walked out the door.

She found herself sooner rather than later in the doorway of Nessa and Nanny's room.

"Elphaba, what are you looking so surly about?" Nanny enquired of the green girl striding into the room.

"My roommate is pretty much an idiot, that's all." Elphaba muttered, walking away to go find Nessarose.

Nessa was seated in her chair facing the window. She was watching the sun set and smiling slightly, her mind obviously elsewhere. Elphaba considered speaking, but simply stopped in the doorway, willing herself to feel what it was Nessarose was feeling. She felt something then, but couldn't grasp it. Before she could identify the feeling, it was gone and she was left feeling more alone than she ever had in her life. She didn't understand how this could make Nessa happy. Perhaps some things just didn't need an explanation.

"Nessa..." said Elphaba, startling her sister.

"Oh! Goodness, I didn't even see you come in!" Nessa laughed, "I was just thinking about how grand this all is! I have met such wonderful people here. Everyone knows it's all about status here, and I think I've already developed that because of Miss Galinda, the Gillikinese---"

"That's nice," Elphaba snapped hastily, cutting Nessa off.

"Why, Elphaba Thropp. I'm surprised at you. You'd think you'd be a little more appreciative at someone being kind enough to take you into their private suite!"

"Her private...Nessa, no! Don't let her fool you. She didn't care about being _charitable,_ she just wanted to look good in front of all of her...and I guess now your..._friends._" Elphaba spat the last word out, disgusted.

Nessa studied Elphaba's face for a long moment before replying as if something appalling had been brought to light. "Elphaba, I'm shocked, frankly. I am simply _shocked_. I would have thought that you of all people would never be jealous of my friends and me, but you are."

"_What!_"

"I should have seen this coming...yes, I suppose I should have. My always being so popular and your struggle to avoid social contact. Just because you're cold and distant doesn't mean you can't have friends, Elphaba. It just means it's going to be more difficult."

Elphaba excused herself at this point and went back to the room. Galinda had already gone to sleep, by the look of it; she had probably been out for the duration of Elphaba's stay in Nessa's room.

" 'Night, Princess." Elphaba murmured sarcastically, climbing into bed.

"Good night." Chirped Galinda sweetly, taking Elphaba aback.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't know you were awake." Elphaba apologized, slightly embarrassed.

"No, no, it's quite all right. I have to forgive you because you've obviously had a hard life which leads you to act out. It's okay."

Elphaba frowned, "So you're suddenly all right with me because of some bullshit Freudian analysis of my character?"

"It is not bull...crap!" Galinda pouted.

Elphaba laughed out loud. "And such a _Saint_!"

"Fine, bull _shit_, I said it! Happy now?"

"Immensely." Both girls looked at each other and burst out laughing. And just like that, they were friends.

The two friends spent their time at Shiz as any two friends would have; laughing, getting into minor trouble, getting out of minor trouble, long talks about their lives, days, troubles. It was a relief for Elphaba, now christened 'Elphie' by the princess herself, who had removed the 'a' from her name and was now simply 'Glinda'. Elphie and Glinda had troubles, sure, the main of which revolved around Glinda's flame Fiyero. Fiyero told Elphaba of his feelings towards her, and Elphaba, shocked had never told Glinda, but avoided Fiyero for weeks. This, of course, angered Glinda and she and Elphaba didn't talk for several days.

The silence in the room was deafening as any silence between close persons is bound to be. Neither girl would break down, and the silence seemed to multiply in each passing moment. Finally, though, Elphaba knew she had to get her friend back or risk losing her forever. She walked in the room where Glinda immediately feigned sleep and spoke.

"I'm really sorry."

Glinda opened one eye and glared at Elphaba a moment before her expression softened and she sat up, opening both eyes, "For what, Elphie? You should hate me."

Elphaba's jaw dropped, "But you weren't speaking to me!"

Glinda shrugged, "You wouldn't listen."

"If I would have listened, would you have still given me the silent treatment?"

The blonde's expression told Elphaba all she needed to know.

"So it's not about me?" Elphie asked, hoping against hope it was not.

"Not directly, no. In fact...it's about me. I've had a lot to think about...oh, Elphaba, don't laugh at me. I do actually think sometimes. Anyway, I've just had so much on my mind---I told you, quit laughing!"

But Elphaba could not. She lay sprawled on her back on her black comforter, convulsing with laughter.

"Oh, I'll give you something to laugh about, you little bitch." Glinda vowed sadistically. Before Elphaba could stop her, the princess herself was tickling her fiercely. Elphaba gasped for air, "Please...Glin...no more...hahaha! No more!"

Glinda stopped, straddling her friend. "Promise you won't laugh at me anymore then?"

Elphaba sat up, suddenly realizing how close her friend really was. "I promise." She said solemnly, and meant it.

Glinda sighed and climbed off of Elphie and sat next to her on the bed. "I've been thinking...and how I don't love Fiyero anymore, or never loved him, or whatever."

"Or whatever?" Elphaba asked, one eyebrow raised.

"Be nice. Anyway, I...I don't know why I did it, but I kissed Boq..._Boq!..._to make him jealous. I don't know why I did that, I just...and now, Fiyero's not even speaking to me, and he said that he loved...loves you or whatever, and he can't. He _can't_!"

Elphaba was appalled. "Just because some people can't see past someone's outer appearance doesn't mean that everyone in the world is like that!" She shouted, incensed.

"No, no...it's not that at all! It's just...I don't know how to say this..."

"I'm GREEN! Maybe? I'm...I'm loathsome, vile, a...oh, what is it they said? A hermaphrodite? I'm disgusting, despicable, dreadful..."

"NO!" Glinda shouted, punching her little fists into Elphaba's chest as hard as she could.

"What the hell is wrong with you!" Elphaba yelled back, seizing Glinda's arms. Glinda shook her head mouthing wordlessly a moment and then burst into tears. "Oh, don't cry, Glin." the black haired girl consoled her friend, "Please don't cry. I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Whatever I did, I am sorry."

"Nothing..." Glinda blubbered, "You did nothing."

"Then why are you crying if I didn't do anything?"

"No, no...you don't get it. You did NOTHING. You knew, and yet...you did _nothing_ about it."

"Nothing about what, dear. I did nothing...?"

Glinda pulled away, blue-green eyes glistening with tears, blonde curls damp from the humidity. Her face was painful for Elphaba to see, so full of doubt, of insecurity that was uncharacteristic of Miss Galinda of the Gillikinese, so tormented. It was like breaking a beautiful vase, tearing the canvas a master painter has put his life's masterpiece on. It was dreadful, but at the same time it was beautiful. Elphaba's dark eyes locked with Glinda's usually blue eyes, now clouded with green and gray.

"Elphaba..." she whispered uncertainly, "I love you."


	5. Dear Old Shiz pt 2

Love, in Elphaba's experience, was a very questionable field. She found herself believing the girl before her, in spite of all that she had learned. Her immediate response to love was generally to pretend it didn't exist, to convince herself it just couldn't be. Many nights, she lie awake thinking about Glinda, how it would feel to run her hand down the blonde's spine, what it would be like to kiss those lips, to bring their two bodies together as one...those same nights, she would dismiss this as ludicrous: Glinda was with Fiyero. What would she ever see in the green...dare she say, freak. In spite of all of this, Glinda's eyes, the blue, grey, green of the ocean's depths, drug her below the surface. She was completely drowning in these eyes, and yes, she believed her. What she felt, though, she was still afraid to say.

"Elphie...I love you." Glinda insisted, sitting up straighter in the bed.

Elphaba smiled, unable to find the words she wanted to say. She had wanted to hear Glinda say those three words to her for so long, had imagined exactly what would happen after the sweet sentence had rolled off Glinda's tongue, how they could make each other feel alive. She had thought it too much to ask, too much to hope for, and yet...here it was. She struggled to find the words and to her surprise, they came.

"You don't know how long I have wanted this," Elphaba almost whispered, caressing the side of Glinda's perfect white face, "How badly I wanted this...Just this moment. Just to be with you, just to see you smile, see your eyes light up and see past my...imperfections. To know that I love you and you love me in return...this is all that matters Glinda. We're all that matters. I know it, I know it right now. I prayed for it then, but now I know it."

She moved her left hand to Glinda's right cheek and with The Princess's face in her hands the green girl leaned forward kissing the love of her life. She lightly sucked on Glinda's top lip, sending a chill through the blonde. As she moved to the lower lip, she pried Glinda's mouth open with her tongue, running it along the velvety lining of her mouth. Glinda let out the softest of moans, and Elphaba knew in that moment that she loved this girl beyond all comprehension, that this girl loved her in return and would do anything for her.

They made love that night for the first time, and it was beautiful, it was magic. Glinda's eyes pulled Elphaba in again and she knew she was drowning, but oh, what bliss it was to drown! If she had to go down, she knew that she would want to go down this way. She had never been happier in her life. For some moments in life, there are no words. The two girls lay together all through the night, perfectly content in the silence for the first time in days, perfectly content to drown together.


End file.
